Paperboard partitions are used to separate adjacent bottles in a carton or carrier to prevent the bottles from contacting each other. This protects against breakage due to vibration and shock during shipping and handling. Typically, a partition adapted to separate the bottles of two adjacent rows will consist of a long panel situated between the rows and transverse cross pieces which extend out from the panel between adjacent bottles in each row. Partitions P of this type are shown in the prior art illustration of FIG. 1 wherein two such partitions are employed in a package of twelve bottles B to separate the bottles in the outer rows from each other. A straight partition or divider D is employed to separate the inner two rows of bottles. In forming a carton of this type the three partitions have to be separately inserted into the group of bottles, requiring the packaging machine to have three partition inserting sections.
Some carriers employ an integral center keel connected to the top panel instead of a separate center divider D. Even with such an arrangement the outer two partitions still have to be separately inserted. Also, additional partition units are required as the number of bottles in a carton increases. For example, a carrier for twenty-four bottles requires five partitions, which means that the packaging machine must have five partition inserting sections.
Since the number of partition inserting sections required in a packaging machine increases with the number of partitions in a carton, machines designed to package larger numbers of bottles can become quite expensive. The additional partition inserting sections can also increase the length of the machine to a point which is too long or impractical to install in an existing packaging plant.
It would be highly desirable and beneficial to be able to utilize bottle partitions which do not require a packaging machine to have as many different partition inserting sections as presently is required. It would also be desirable if the cost of partitions in a carton could be reduced.